In addition, billionaire Calvin Ayre, of Bodog and Lingerie Bowl fame, is reportedly planning a MMA pay-per-view on November 4th at The Forum. His promotion wants to use fighters similar to Tito Ortiz, Frank Shamrock, Fedor Emelianenko, and Wanderlei Silva in terms of name recognition, but with most already signed to UFC and the Japanese-based PRIDE, that will be very difficult. But it exemplifies just how much of a splash they want to make in America (a budget of $500,000 has been allocated just for the main event alone). They also supposedly have a deal already in place with The Men’s Channel, a high-definition station on Dish Network, to air a weekly television series centered around the new promotion.

So if these two start-ups want to compete with UFC and PRIDE, they should be prepared to invest in them as long-term projects, because without the money (to sign A-list fighters and major league production values) and the connections (towards airtime on television, which would help generate pay-per-view buyrates), they’re going to fizzle out.

Bottom line is that the next few months should prove very interesting for MMA fans in Southern California.